So I just failed Anatomy

[Arkangeloid]

I was passing the course until Head and Neck, and I passed the other concurrent courses (Cell Bio, Histo). I knew Head and Neck would be difficult, so I put in more time, in the lab and out, than I had for prior exams.

It ended in utter disaster, and I failed the lowest score in the entire class. I will have to repeat the course in the summer.


I was wondering, to what extent will this torpedo my chances at becoming a practicing physician? I've already written off any remotely competitive specialty, but at the rate I'm going I won't be a physician at all. So I'm considering dropping out of medical school, because things certainly aren't looking good right now haha.

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[eefen]

That's a bummer, but I wouldn't consider it to be a death sentence. You aren't the first.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Okay, failing sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Definitely not the end of your medical career either. There will be hundreds of students in your position come match time and they will end up matching just fine. You can and will pass medical school if you want to. Put it away under the "can't worry about it right now" because you can't. Just concentrate on the rest of your schedule. When the summer comes, study hard for anatomy, get help from professors, sit on labs, etc etc, and then remediate the class.

Depending on how your school words your Dean letter (which is the only place where pre-clinical grades even remotely matter), it may not even mention the fail. At our school, only those who have to repeat a year get a mention in their Dean letter. If you remediate over the summer, no one will know other than you.

 

[VisionaryTics]

I don't think this torpedoes your chances of becoming a physician, or even torpedoes your chances of matching to a competitive specialty/residency program. Work hard in your other classes, take the bitch down during the summer, and move on with your life. This happens to more of your colleagues that you would imagine. Also, look in to whether your school would even mention this in your dean's letter. Many don't as long as you pass during the summer remediation period.

 

[Arkangeloid]

Depending on how your school words your Dean letter (which is the only place where pre-clinical grades even remotely matter), it may not even mention the fail. At our school, only those who have to repeat a year get a mention in their Dean letter. If you remediate over the summer, no one will know other than you.

IIRC, they don't mention the fail if you pass the remediation (from what I understand, the pass overrides the fail on the transcript, but I have to check again). If, God forbid, you fail remediation, then you have to repeat the year...in which case, people will know I guess.

 

[notbobtrustme]

They don't mention the fail if you pass the remediation. If, God forbid, you fail remediation, then you have to repeat the year...in which case, people will know I guess.

sure, but bear in mind that the Dean's letter is anywhere from 2 pages to more than 6. Your pre-clinical grades might take up a few sentences at most.

 

[Kaustikos]

I already replied in another thread but I'll say it again -

Don't beat yourself up. Focus on the next hurdles until you have to remediate. If you fail anatomy and do fine otherwise, you won't have issues. Issues arise when you have continuous issues w/o improvement. And when people look at your transcript, they won't look at failing Anatomy as horrible if you
a) do great on step 1
b) have good shelf scores
c) good LOR from rotations

It's all about how you present yourself. People fail courses, but it's about how you recover from that ordeal. Here's the mindset my pediatrics residency director looks at applications for someone in your situation -

"Hmm, okay, this person failed Anatomy but remediated and passed. Oh, look, he did fine in other courses, too. Oh, look, his step 1 is good, too. This is probably an adjustment period. Also, it's Anatomy."

 

[Xivilus1231]

Sorry to hear that man, anatomy is one of those classes where it either clicks right away or it doesn't.

I was wondering if you would've done better with a block curriculum where its just all anatomy and nothing else for 6-7 weeks, over your traditional school system?

Best of luck re-mediating, don't think about dropping now, considering that you already paid for your first year. See how everything goes in the next couple of months.

 

[docterjew]

It's pretty common. I was told that in my school 4-5 people out of about 125 fail anatomy every year and have to remediate. My school has also matched %100 of its class since at least 2010.

 

[Arkangeloid]

I already replied in another thread but I'll say it again -

Don't beat yourself up. Focus on the next hurdles until you have to remediate. If you fail anatomy and do fine otherwise, you won't have issues. Issues arise when you have continuous issues w/o improvement. And when people look at your transcript, they won't look at failing Anatomy as horrible if you
a) do great on step 1
b) have good shelf scores
c) good LOR from rotations

It's all about how you present yourself. People fail courses, but it's about how you recover from that ordeal. Here's the mindset my pediatrics residency director looks at applications for someone in your situation -

"Hmm, okay, this person failed Anatomy but remediated and passed. Oh, look, he did fine in other courses, too. Oh, look, his step 1 is good, too. This is probably an adjustment period. Also, it's Anatomy."

Heh, well, this is good news. I was worried that because Remediation occurs in the summer (when people would otherwise be doing research), I will probably lack said research. I'm worried that residencies will look at that and think "Hmmm, he did nothing in his M1 summer...maybe he was playing the game called Adventures With Ethanol!"

 

[Aristocrab]

Don't feel bad for failing anatomy. It's a bit of a downer when you fail a course but it deosn't define you as a physician. Medicine is so much more than anatomy, other classes you'll probably do fine so get pass this obstacle and try to study different for next exam.

Sidenote: 70% failed anatomy in my girlfriend's class. 55% in my class. It's a hard subject

 

[sylvanthus]

If 50% are failing your school is doing something really wrong and you should post what school you go to so people can avoid it. Absolutely no reason that should be occurring.

 

[sazerac]

Don't feel bad for failing anatomy. It's a bit of a downer when you fail a course but it deosn't define you as a physician. Medicine is so much more than anatomy, other classes you'll probably do fine so get pass this obstacle and try to study different for next exam.

Sidenote: 70% failed anatomy in my girlfriend's class. 55% in my class. It's a hard subject

It sounds more like your schools' professors failed the class. Are either of these schools LCME accredited?

 

[Aristocrab]

If 50% are failing your school is doing something really wrong and you should post what school you go to so people can avoid it. Absolutely no reason that should be occurring.

This is a well-known problem. The school council have been trying to replace/fire the professor, but he wont step down, so it's a standstill atm.
But i totally agree, it's not an acceptable ratio.

But grades are not as important in swedish medical schools for matching residency. It isn't possible for programs to see if you flunked some courses.

 

[Nephronlearner]

This is a well-known problem. The school council have been trying to replace/fire the professor, but he wont step down, so it's a standstill atm.
But i totally agree, it's not an acceptable ratio.

But grades are not as important in swedish medical schools for matching residency. It isn't possible for programs to see if you flunked some courses.

You are referring to Swedish schools, right?

From what I know, this is quite common at most European medical schools (except British ones, where retaking a class is usually not an option). At most places, lots of students fail out (my class: I believe 20% had to retake anatomy) and then repeat the year. Luckily for them, the "failure" does not appear on the transcript, which means: honoring the class the 2nd time you take it beats getting "high pass" the 1st time you take it. (in regards to class rank, which eventually determines the residency position).

@ OP:
Don't worry too much about the anatomy thing. I am quite sure you are not the only one. Anatomy is one of the 1st courses you take and also one of the toughest courses in medical school. Make sure you do well in summer. It does not mean you can't make a great doctor. In fact, I know several great doctors who had failed the year thanks to anatomy. So work hard and pass it the next time (ask your classmates what worked for them and schedule a meeting with one of the professors and discuss the issue with them as well. They will probably be able to help.)
Good luck!

 

[Brain Bucket]

Not true at all European Schools. At ours, if you fail Anatomy, you fail out.

 

[Aristocrab]

You are referring to Swedish schools, right?

Yes, I am.. But it's just anatomy where people are failing. Otherwise 10-20% are failing.
But i've heard that eastern european schools are quite hard, it might be them you're referring to.

We're able to redo the exam twice, then are we recommended to redo the course.

But we're not here to discuss eurpean schools. @OP: It's a course that reqires alot of cramming, make sure you'll have time to study for the next exam and good luck

 

[Nephronlearner]

Not true at all European Schools. At ours, if you fail Anatomy, you fail out.

English isn't my first language but I am pretty sure "most" means "the majority, but not all".
How on Earth do you find something "wrong and worth commenting" in every single topic? lol

@ Aristocrab: well obviously my schools is quite similar to yours (still more people pass anatomy, though). I know there are schools with >50% attrition.
And, yes, this is about the guy/girl who started the thread and his anatomy problems.
And the best advice anyone can give him is to talk to people at his school and give his best in summer. I believe there are plenty of us who didn't rock the anatomy course. That being said, most of us managed to pass it and progress to the next year. So, no death sentence, just a little extra work and everything will be fine

 

[notbobtrustme]

Yes, I am.. But it's just anatomy where people are failing. Otherwise 10-20% are failing.

jeez, that's still an insane attrition rate. Academic attrition in the states is less than 5%.

 

[Nephronlearner]

jeez, that's still an insane attrition rate. Academic attrition in the states is less than 5%.

You are talking about the people that fail anatomy, or those that don't graduate?

At my school (European) around 10-15% of people don't graduate.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Ah damn Arkangeloid, I know I gave you a lot of crap for thinking you were failing, but this sucks to hear. How did you go from above passing on every single exam throughout the year to failing the entire course?

Anyway, don't answer the above question. It happened, all you need to do is move on, kick remediation's ass, and get back on track. Head and Neck sucks.

 

[Arkangeloid]

Ah damn Arkangeloid, I know I gave you a lot of crap for thinking you were failing, but this sucks to hear. How did you go from above passing on every single exam throughout the year to failing the entire course?

Anyway, don't answer the above question. It happened, all you need to do is move on, kick remediation's ass, and get back on track. Head and Neck sucks.

Well, at our school we have 3 courses bundled together in one unit, Cell Bio, Histology, and Anatomy. Cell Bio has 1 exam, Histo has 2, Anatomy has 3. You need to pass all 3 courses to pass the unit.

I got over a 90 on Cell Bio.

I passed both the Histo exams fairly easily.

On Anatomy, my first two exam scores were marginal (69.6, 73.2, passing mark at 70). I figured that since my scores were improving, some extra work would mean that I could pass the class and be on my way. Except I ended up with a 60 on this test, the lowest score in the entire class . I really think it was mostly just a bad day combined with rushed studying of pharynx/larynx and oral/nasal cavities, but eh, it is what it is.

The rules are that if you fail any of the three courses, you have to remediate that course, but not the others. So while I passed the unit overall, failing on only Anatomy means I have to remediate Anatomy.

 

[evilbooyaa]

So while I passed the unit overall, failing on only Anatomy means I have to remediate Anatomy.

Alright well what that means is that over the summer you will only have Anatomy to learn, and if you only focus on that (given that you feel that you could have done more studying for H&N) you should do just fine.

As to becoming a physician with a first-attempt fail in Anatomy - Of course you can. If you remediate and it will become a pass on your record you can still even go for a competitive specialty.

 

[eefen]

alright well what that means is that over the summer you will only have anatomy to learn, and if you only focus on that (given that you feel that you could have done more studying for h&n) you should do just fine.

As to becoming a physician with a first-attempt fail in anatomy - of course you can. If you remediate and it will become a pass on your record you can still even go for a competitive specialty.

+1

 

[Consigliere]

I was passing the course until Head and Neck, and I passed the other concurrent courses (Cell Bio, Histo). I knew Head and Neck would be difficult, so I put in more time, in the lab and out, than I had for prior exams.

It ended in utter disaster, and I failed the lowest score in the entire class. I will have to repeat the course in the summer.


I was wondering, to what extent will this torpedo my chances at becoming a practicing physician? I've already written off any remotely competitive specialty, but at the rate I'm going I won't be a physician at all. So I'm considering dropping out of medical school, because things certainly aren't looking good right now haha.

Meh, blessing in disguise. Being a physician ain't all it's cracked up to be. Quit while you're ahead; you'll thank me later.

 

[Brain Bucket]

English isn't my first language but I am pretty sure "most" means "the majority, but not all".
How on Earth do you find something "wrong and worth commenting" in every single topic? lol

If you wanna get fresh with me, take it to the open forums and I'll rip you a new one there. Please and thank you.

@OP: How (exactly) did you prepare for Anatomy?

I did pretty well with BRS(essential) + Moore(non-essential) +All Lipp Q&A (essential) + All pretest (essential) + some anatomy recall (non-essential) + some A&L (non-essential). I'm sure others did reasonably with a lot less.

 

[TheRach1025]

Meh, blessing in disguise. Being a physician ain't all it's cracked up to be. Quit while you're ahead; you'll thank me later.

If being a physician isn't right for you, then perhaps you should quit rather than coming to a forum catering to aspiring doctors and spreading negativity about the profession.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Meh, blessing in disguise. Being a physician ain't all it's cracked up to be. Quit while you're ahead; you'll thank me later.

Thread crapping at it's finest folks.

You are talking about the people that fail anatomy, or those that don't graduate?

At my school (European) around 10-15% of people don't graduate.

yea, that number for graduation. Typical schools here have a 4-year graduate rate of 95% and a 5 year graduation rate of 97%. Most people who don't graduate quit rather than fail out.

 

[circulus vitios]

Meh, blessing in disguise. Being a physician ain't all it's cracked up to be. Quit while you're ahead; you'll thank me later.

Hey, look. It's the guy who bitches that $400k/year isn't enough -- a guy who honestly thinks he has the talent, ambition, connections, and intelligence to recreate or surpass his financial success in a field outside of medicine.

 

[Nephronlearner]

If you wanna get fresh with me, take it to the open forums and I'll rip you a new one there. Please and thank you.

? Overreacting, maybe?

yea, that number for graduation. Typical schools here have a 4-year graduate rate of 95% and a 5 year graduation rate of 97%. Most people who don't graduate quit rather than fail out.

97%... wow! Is it like that at all (or almost all) schools? That is really great. Over here students aren't "safe" until... 4th year (out of 6) at least. 1st year would be pre-med; 2nd and 3rd similar to American M1 and M2; and even in 3rd year plenty fail out


@ OP:
Another thing that crossed my mind. How important are the practicals at your school? What percentage of your final mark is identifying structures?
Try to organize it so that the amount of time you spend in the lab is proportional to that.
(i.e if it is 10% than you really shouldn't spend 50% of time in lab, but rather focus on theory; and the other way around)

 

[Anastomoses]

I barely spent any time in lab. Just long enough to see the structures other people were pointing out. Do the Acland's videos. whew, what a timesaver that is...and they are so clear and great.

Make correlations. Anatomy is a pain in the ass - period. You have to find a way to jazz it up or it's all gonna be a big mess in your head.

 

[Consigliere]

Hey, look. It's the guy who bitches that $400k/year isn't enough -- a guy who honestly thinks he has the talent, ambition, connections, and intelligence to recreate or surpass his financial success in a field outside of medicine.

Thanks for the recognition, kid!

 

[Consigliere]

If being a physician isn't right for you, then perhaps you should quit rather than coming to a forum catering to aspiring doctors and spreading negativity about the profession.

Quit?!? And do what? Not after all the debt I have accumulated. Gotta stick it out as long as I can, all the while looking for an out.

 

[Dires]

Quit?!? And do what? Not after all the debt I have accumulated. Gotta stick it out as long as I can, all the while looking for an out.

Have you held a job outside of medicine? If so, what?

 

[Nephronlearner]

I barely spent any time in lab. Just long enough to see the structures other people were pointing out. Do the Acland's videos. whew, what a timesaver that is...and they are so clear and great.

Make correlations. Anatomy is a pain in the ass - period. You have to find a way to jazz it up or it's all gonna be a big mess in your head.

Haha, actually, this is pretty much the way I did it. But before the practical I didn't know anything so I spent like 2 days in the lab (instead of spending the last 2 days reviewing the "theory" (unfortunately Netter =/= real body). So I do wish I was more interested during dissections.
Overall, I think it is wise to use the lab time to learn the structures

(if you don't have much time, Rohen's atlas may also be a good option)

 

[Consigliere]

Have you held a job outside of medicine? If so, what?

Yes. Male stripper.

 

[circulus vitios]

Thanks for the recognition, kid!

Keep bitching about your 'miserable' career while remaining too gutless to change anything. Just remember, you only live once.

Have you held a job outside of medicine? If so, what?

No. He's delusional. Probably early onset of Alzheimer's.

 

[yehhhboiii]

Keep bitching about your 'miserable' career while remaining too gutless to change anything. Just remember, you only live once.



No. He's delusional. Probably early onset of Alzheimer's.

go away premed

 

[circulus vitios]

go away premed

Have you ever worked a real job in your life, or are you another one of those delusional kindergarten to MD kids?

 

[yehhhboiii]

Have you ever worked a real job in your life, or are you another one of those delusional kindergarten to MD kids?

why are you here
your personality is unpleasant and no one likes you
you have nothing of value to offer medical students
you lack real world experience but spend your time challenging others

 

[circulus vitios]

why are you here
your personality is unpleasant and no one likes you
you have nothing of value to offer medical students
you lack real world experience but spend your time challenging others

So this is what happens when nerds try to make a cool kids club.

 

[Mr Avante]

This is a well-known problem. The school council have been trying to replace/fire the professor, but he wont step down, so it's a standstill atm.
But i totally agree, it's not an acceptable ratio.

Karolinska
He won't let us vote him out and someone keeps rescinding the votes

Quit?!? And do what? Not after all the debt I have accumulated. Gotta stick it out as long as I can, all the while looking for an out.

Meh

 

[VisionaryTics]

So this is what happens when nerds try to make a cool kids club.

Every time anyone calls you out on your bull**** you pull the "I work manual labor so therefore I'm right" card.

 

[circulus vitios]

Every time anyone calls you out on your bull**** you pull the "I work manual labor so therefore I'm right" card.

What, calling out a bunch of stereotypical crybabies who went straight from undergrad to med school, who whine and complain about having to study or work so they can make >$200k/year for the rest of their lives? Oh man, what a shame, having to study and know stuff. You guys have it so bad compared to everyone else: post docs and perpetual adjuncts who slave away in research labs and lecture halls for poverty wages; engineers who lose their jobs to outsourcing; lawyers or the elusive "ibankers" who don't make partner and are forced into a hideously saturated job market; or the general American public that wastes away their lives away on inconsequential manual labor or TPS report filing jobs.

edit:

Forgot to mention that you could do any of those awesome jobs and make millions a year. You're only doing medicine out of the goodness of your hearts, and success in academia, law, business, etc. is purely a function of 'hard work' and your ability to take standardized tests and memorize biology factoids is evidence of 'hard work.' Nothing else -- academic pedigree, legacy, connections, business acumen, intelligence, natural aptitude, personality, etc. -- comes into play.

 

[Acetabulous]

As someone who is the first person in their entire extended family to not only attend medical school, but also to graduate from college, I find this post to be incredibly presumptuous, ignorant, and pretentious. I went straight from undergrad to medical school and am paving the road to future success with incredible amounts of hard work. If I decide to complain about how frustrating it is to go to school for over twenty years, accumulate over $300,000 in debt, only to have my future earning potential slowly going down the tube, what business is it of yours? I want to start a nest egg for my family down the road. Is that morally reprehensible? We are complaining on a forum for current medical students. If we were walking around the homeless shelters in our respective cities trying to commiserate with the people waiting in line for a meal, then I could understand your panties being in a bunch. Until that happens, get off of your moral high horse, realize that you weren't the only one who took an intro to ethics course in undergrad, and understand that venting on the internet (as I am currently doing) is a much better coping mechanism for dealing with stress and frustration than many of the alternatives.

What, calling out a bunch of stereotypical crybabies who went straight from undergrad to med school, who whine and complain about having to study or work so they can make >$200k/year for the rest of their lives? Oh man, what a shame, having to study and know stuff. You guys have it so bad compared to everyone else: post docs and perpetual adjuncts who slave away in research labs and lecture halls for poverty wages; engineers who lose their jobs to outsourcing; lawyers or the elusive "ibankers" who don't make partner and are forced into a hideously saturated job market; or the general American public that wastes away their lives away on inconsequential manual labor or TPS report filing jobs.

edit:

Forgot to mention that you could do any of those awesome jobs and make millions a year. You're only doing medicine out of the goodness of your hearts, and success in academia, law, business, etc. is purely a function of 'hard work' and your ability to take standardized tests and memorize biology factoids is evidence of 'hard work.' Nothing else -- academic pedigree, legacy, connections, business acumen, intelligence, natural aptitude, personality, etc. -- comes into play.

 

[gman33]

I failed anatomy. At the time it seemed like the end of the world.
Maybe it would have been if I had my heart set on derm.

I'm a second year resident now, and I don't think it really mattered.
In a way, it helped.

I failed by a single point, which seemed like a dick move.
Doing the remediation really helped.
I probably learned anatomy better than the majority of people in my class.

Just move on.
You should have time to study during the remediation time.
Use this time well and learn the material cold.
Not just to pass, but to really learn the material.

Part of what I learned is that you have to follow your own learning style.
If I did that the first time, I would have passed with no problem.

Just focus on doing your best moving forward.
That's really the only thing you can do.

I matched into the field I wanted at a very solid program.
The long term impact of failing anatomy was just about zero.

 

[Wordead]

What, calling out a bunch of stereotypical crybabies who went straight from undergrad to med school, who whine and complain about having to study or work so they can make >$200k/year for the rest of their lives? Oh man, what a shame, having to study and know stuff. You guys have it so bad compared to everyone else: post docs and perpetual adjuncts who slave away in research labs and lecture halls for poverty wages; engineers who lose their jobs to outsourcing; lawyers or the elusive "ibankers" who don't make partner and are forced into a hideously saturated job market; or the general American public that wastes away their lives away on inconsequential manual labor or TPS report filing jobs.

edit:

Forgot to mention that you could do any of those awesome jobs and make millions a year. You're only doing medicine out of the goodness of your hearts, and success in academia, law, business, etc. is purely a function of 'hard work' and your ability to take standardized tests and memorize biology factoids is evidence of 'hard work.' Nothing else -- academic pedigree, legacy, connections, business acumen, intelligence, natural aptitude, personality, etc. -- comes into play.

I did manual labor in high school/college, was a lab tech in college, was an engineer for 2 years, and a consultant for 2 more. So I think I have a pretty good basis for response: you're an idiot. You have this idealized vision of medicine and will be in for a very rude awakening. There is so much garbage in medicine that you will have to deal with that you have not even considered.

 

[sobored]

I did manual labor in high school/college, was a lab tech in college, was an engineer for 2 years, and a consultant for 2 more. So I think I have a pretty good basis for response: you're an idiot. You have this idealized vision of medicine and will be in for a very rude awakening. There is so much garbage in medicine that you will have to deal with that you have not even considered.

+1

Non-trad here, worked plenty before med school, agree with above.

 

[sobored]

And to the OP, tough break with anatomy. Pick yourself up, do well in other courses then nail the remediation. **** happens. Don't let it happen again.

 

[Aristocrab]

Karolinska
He won't let us vote him out and someone keeps rescinding the votes

Close but no cigar, Sahlgrenska.